The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
An aircraft is propelled by a plurality of turbojet engines each housed in a nacelle that also accommodates a set of complementary devices related to its operation such as a thrust reverser device.
The role of a thrust reverser during landing of an aircraft is to improve its braking ability by redirecting forward at least a part of the thrust generated by the turbojet engine.
In this phase, the thrust reverser obstructs the gas ejection nozzle and directs the ejection flow of the engine to the front of the nacelle thereby generating a counter-thrust which adds to the braking of the wheels of the aircraft.
The means implemented to achieve this flow reorientation vary depending on the thrust reverser type. Regardless of the type of reverser, the structure of a thrust reverser comprises movable cowls displaceable between an opening position in which they open a passage within the nacelle intended for the diverted flow and a closing position in which they close this passage.
These movable cowls may fulfill by themselves the function of deflection or simply a function of actuation of other diverting means such as flaps of obstruction of the flow path.
The actuation of the thrust reverser, thus the displacement the movable cowl, is controlled according to prior art by hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders which require a network of transportation of pressurized fluid.
This pressurized fluid is conventionally obtained either by air tapping on the turbojet engine in the case of a pneumatic system or by picking upon the hydraulic circuit of the aircraft in the case of a hydraulic system.
The necessity for complex equipment for allowing air or fluid picking up, and the network of hydraulic or pneumatic transportation, significantly make the aircraft heavier.
Moreover, such systems require a significant maintenance because the slightest leakage in the hydraulic or pneumatic network may have harmful consequences on the thrust reverser as well as on other parts of the nacelle.
To overcome these drawbacks, the thrust reverser manufacturers have sought to replace them with electric actuation systems.
Each thrust reverser is supplied with electrical energy by a power source of the aircraft. Each of the power sources is connected to a power-conversion module providing the conversion from the alternating voltage delivered by the power source into a direct voltage.
A first drawback of this type of architecture is related to the number of power lines necessary for the operation of the actuation systems of the thrust reversers, the aircraft generally offering only a limited number of power lines.
A second drawback comes from the fact that the actuation systems of the thrust reversers are segregated. Indeed, when the various thrust reversers do not deploy simultaneously or when only one thrust reverser is deployed, it is up to the pilot to check that the non-deployed thrust reverser has a minimum thrust on the corresponding turbojet engine.
The patent application EP 2 236 413 known from the prior art refers to an aircraft source supplying a power-conversion module that distributes the power supply to a plurality of actuators.
However, such an electrical architecture is adapted for actuators that can be sequentially supplied but is not conformed for a use specific to the actuators of thrust reversers to be supplied at the same time with minimum power dissymmetry between each actuator.